Why should I avoid services that guarantee streams or playlist placements?

Simple: you run the risk of having your music pulled from streaming platforms.

Services that offer “guaranteed” streams or “guaranteed” playlist placements are not legitimate. You should beware the lure of boosting vanity metrics, because artificially-generated streams are a form of fraud.

As Spotify says:

Any service that guarantees streams or playlist placement in return for money is lying to you about their legitimacy. We never associate with services like that and anyone who tries to artificially increase stream counts will risk having their music taken down. It’s important to know that you’re putting your career at risk anytime you engage with one of these bad actors.

Services that guarantee streams often rely on click farms or other unscrupulous practices to generate activity. Since streams are monetized, this is a form of fraud, and may result in a “takedown” where digital streaming platforms remove your music.

Similarly, services that guarantee playlist placements are often either involved in playola (paying for placement) or artificially inflating their own network of playlists’ followers with “listeners” who actually never listen to the playlist.

Lastly, DO NOT stream your own music on repeat. This too, even when done unwittingly, is a form of fraud. It is unethical to stream your own music on repeat in an attempt to boost play counts or drive streaming revenue.

Of course it’s fine to hear your own songs once in a while, but when you leave your newest album on a loop for two days straight, the streaming platforms will take notice and (potentially) remove your music from their service. Don’t do it!